Mandala Road is located in the North-western part of Arunachal Pradesh, very close to the Burmese border. The road starts close to Dirang at an altitude of 1700 meters above sea-level and climbs up to a pass at 3200 metres above sea-level. The road still holds some of the few pristine mountain and high altitude forest left at close vicinity of Dirang. The first forest parts are severely degraded and most of the forest along the road is heavily grazed by cattle (mainly yacks and cows). However, along the pass the forest still holds very old huge conifer trees, mainly cedars. Along the lower latitudes of the road one first encounters farmland, then temperate broadleaved forest and scrub. Higher up, treeline vegetation is dominated by conifers, birch, rhododendron and birch scrub.

This image was taken at an altitude of about 2400 metres above sea-level, just at the start of the more forested parts of the road. The image shows a still relatively intact forest zone, but where big trees have been cut along the road.